Vito Cassisi – Tech Blog Delving into technology

Xbox 360 Wired PC Controller Review

Installation
Installing the controller is as easy as it looks. The connection is via USB, and if you're using Windows 7, chances are the OS will already have the appropriate driver installed. Since I prefer to have the latest drivers, I did a quick search on Microsoft's site and found version 1.2 of their 64bit Xbox 360 Accessories software. Once installed, it works like any other plug and play peripheral.

Calibration
Proper calibration of a controller is critical for games which require high precision movements. In my case, this applies to the game TrackMania which is known for its crazily difficult tracks and competitive players. Using Windows 7, getting to the calibration settings was harder than I expected. With earlier versions of Windows, the Control Panel had a dedicated icon for managing game controllers. This is no longer the case. Fortunately, once you know where to find it, the process is simple.

To find the calibration settings, click into the Start Menu and search for 'game controller'. The first option listed should be 'Set up USB game controllers'. Once that's selected you can calibrate the controller by navigating to 'Properties' -> 'Settings' -> 'Calibrate'.

To Microsoft's credit, the controller was already calibrated quite well. There's no reason why the controller couldn't be used straight out of the box, unless you're very finicky about your gaming equipment.

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